Years ago I remember reading an account of James Brady, President Reagan White House Press Secretary and his impatience for long drawn out of the presentation. When the presentation lasted for too long, it will interrupt the moderator and pronounce the word MEGO. This is for my eyes glaze over. It will then ask the person making the submission of written summary of its provisions and to bring it for its consideration. Our country is changing. Our world is changing. With the advent of the digital revolution, our attention spans are gradually becoming shorter. Some researchers seem to feel that the amount of information that we have to pay attention to and/or absorb increases, decreases the amount of our attention. I even saw graph showing recession since Shakespeare to YouTube. Whether we like it or not, I believe that the signs are that we go through a period of time in which there is a change in our culture.
We have witnessed changes MEGO or post-literate society.
For thousands of years there were several written languages. The story was adopted in the form of stories told from one generation to another. And Yes, even the Biblical stories. Many times those responsible for making these stories were held in high esteem the rest of the population. Great attention was paid to keep the facts straight on from generation to generation. Many of the stories have been nominated rhythm or song so that they could more easily remember. Later, as writing developed these oral accounts were placed in writing. Even in this case, copy text from one document to another wrote all manually. Only relatively recently in human history, in 1440, was the ability to replicate documents machine was born. At first it was slow and difficult process, but over the centuries have made refinements and increased speed, so written, reproduced documents became common and popular and is recognized as a means of transferring information from one generation to another. This further and became the accepted norm for our Western culture. Recent developments are beginning to shape up, to see how we are in for a change.
And then, just as the printing press began a revolution in your day, computer chip has led to one of our country. Ironically, many researchers believe, and I think this is confirmed by my own observation, that we may be headed back to the time when Visual and audio input our main means of transmission. We are now entering a transition period where our cultures still depends primarily on the written word, but becomes increasingly oriented Visual and hearing environments as a way of expression. Today in our college classes and our business meetings video and PowerPoint presentations are written reports. Letters are letters. So the United States postal service is no longer able to cover the cost of their own services. However, at present, these presentations and emails in writing. But how long until the transition is complete and the video and sound means of providing information to become dominant? Already the video is embedded in the email, books and more popular in audio format and Internet services such as Skype and VoIP make Visual and audio messages to the increasingly global and accessible. Print soon no longer need to communicate or to register for events, where video and audio so easily available and so cheap. It seems to be saying my sons on their experiences in College (two of whom are studying to become teachers themselves) that this change is already occurring in our educational institutions. Computers, audiovisual materials and computer presentations, quickly becoming the norm in our college classes and even as we speak are becoming commonplace even in our schools. With the coming changes in the nature of learning that have been used in Western civilization for hundreds of years.
While it is true that all media access, which increasingly since the advent of radio and TV are part of the case (data compressed into a sixty-second, audio will do this for you), I believe that we can also see other effects in our classrooms and our youth. The technical aspects of writing becomes less important for a student today. In the end, most software packages today include grammar and spell checking, right? In addition to changing the structure of thinking. Students are asked too, or more likely just do multitasking. Works on paper, notes in class, on your laptop, as well as with the Facebook open, check e-mail or watching YouTube videos will do this for you. This reduced the effectiveness of the training? Yes, studies have shown that it does. And it also violates the concentration required to maintain a train of thought. Once students can be limited to a few friends to track, now with the social networks of hundreds or even thousands. This makes the idea of mental discipline to take on a completely different meaning.
What is to become of us? Some of these changes are good and which are bad? What does the future hold for our digital generation? We are doomed to future spelling and communication limited "how r u?" and this change will allow us to continue to perform some of the long-term challenges that require prolonged concentration and attention? On the other hand perhaps we no longer need long focus we once did because black mental tasks will be carried out by or with the help of computer. This frees us to begin to think in new and original ways and return to a more creative approach to teaching? This will lead us to life and knowledge in the form of snapshots? Independent bits at a time? Perhaps we will find that much more can be communicated to the old-fashioned oral means, that we do not need to write more. Interesting questions isn't it? Wouldn't it be interesting if, after all this time we would have come full circle, taking us yet again the oral storytelling and Word of mouth, backed by modern technology? The story is interesting, but the future of intriguing is it? Time will tell.
Ricky l. Goodson, Indiana Wesleyan University, business/economics. Well after me to start writing for a while so here is my family. You know that old saying that there are some people that cause things to happen, other that to respect what is happening, and finally, people that are curious, what happened? Well I've always been a student of the human condition, which I think explains my interest in history and current events (which is now simply the history). This is a very useful feature for me. I can't help myself. Unfortunately this leads to a strange side effect. Need to talk about it. That's why my family wants me to write. They are tired of hearing it. So if you clicked on the link that you put here is your fault. Not mine. Now with this little indication of the way, let's talk about the upcoming presidential elections.
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